CANADA - Doctors Allowed to Give Medical Files to Private Firms

Doctors allowed to give medical files to private firms

Doctors are obliged to ensure patients can access their history, but there's no law against giving files to a private firm, says the Ontario
College of Physicians and Surgeons.

And that means doctors have little say over how much private companies charge patients for medical records.

A Thunder Bay woman learned that lesson the hard way after she was asked to pay $600 dollars to access her files after her family doctor closed his
practice.

"A private company that's storing health files on behalf of a professional are acting as the agent of the health professional," he said. "[It]
would be bound by the same rules in terms of what they can charge."

$600 for personal medical records shocks patient

To get her health records, Wendy Doran had to call a private medical registry that now holds her file. When she says she was told there would
be a fee of more than $600 to access them, she couldn't believe it.

“I couldn't believe I would have to pay for my own medical records. [I] can't afford something like that.

The president of RSRS, the company that holds the records, said the company wants to ensure all patients can access their records. He added the
company has never withheld medical records from a patient because of his or her ability to pay.

I think this is crazy. If a doctor is keeping your medical records on file....shouldn't you also get a photocopy of all the doctor's notes and lab
reports, as well as any other reports (free of charge)?

I mean, here we pay for medicare and whatnot so we can get swift access to health care. Our taxes go towards funding public care. That being said, we
should be entitled to photocopy our medical records shouldn't we????

But paying a few hundred dollars for records is a little insane don't you think?

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